Mozart, Requiem K. 626

The Requiem is not only Mozart's last composition, but also the one mostshrouded in mystery. The purportedly enigmatic patron who ordered the workand the fatal illness that befell Mozart while he was working on it longnurtured the macabre legend of Mozart composing his own Requiem masscommissioned by Death himself. The Requiem was completed by Mozart's friendand pupil Franz Saver Süssmayr on the basis of Mozart's sketches andinstructions. The somber woodwinds and brass, the artless melodies and thestirring shifts from intricate contrapuntal writing to mighty homophonicblocks convey an otherworldly, apocalyptic feeling seldom encountered inMozart's works. Despite its almost operatic solo passages and largeorchestra, the Requiem was intended for the church, and is indeed an idealwork for the theatrically sumptuous and brilliant Baroque churches ofAustria and southern Germany.Karl Böhm was universally acclaimed for his Mozart interpretations. ThoughWagner was one of Böhm's first loves, his friendship with Richard Straussled to a deep knowledge and appreciation of Mozart. In his autobiography,Böhm wrote that "Richard Strauss revealed to me the ultimate secrets ofthis, in my opinion, greatest of all musical geniuses, Mozart." Böhm'sdiscovery of these secrets transformed his Mozart interpretations intounforgettable events. Filmed in Vienna's resplendent "Piaristenkirche",this recording of Mozart's Requiem features the illustrious Mozart singersGundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig, Peter Schreier and Walter Berry.